2017-04-02: Hearts 0-5 Celtic, SP

Trivia

• Celtic seal the League Title

• Celtic six-in-a-row league titles, the third time in our history that we have achieved it. The third club worldwide to have achieved this feat.
• Treble is still on, league cup already won. Playing Sevco in Scottish Cup semi-finals soon.
• Celtic secured the title on matchday 30 – by doing so matched Paris St-Germain’s record for the earliest title win in a 38-game season.
• Both Dembele & Griffiths out, so no main strikers, and Celtic still win 5-0, and two goals chopped for (one of which should have stood).
• Celtic are unbeaten to date in the league, only two draws. Incredible achievement.
• Only 1600 Celtic fans at Hearts, as allocation given was so low, and some complaints from Celtic fans that many tickets went to corporates.
• Sinclair grabbed a hat-trick. Roberts scored an incredible goal too.
• When Brown lifts this title, he will become the first player in Celtic's history to win the Championship under 4 different managers
• Celtic Graves Society hold a remembrance service with Slavia Prague for the great legendary ex-Celt Johnny Madden.
• Back after the International Break. Scotland defeated Slovenia 1-0 inspired by Stuart Armstrong in his debut, England top the group and Scotland’s chances to make second place are still slim. Armstrong and Tierney heavily praised in the game; Griffiths got an injury after a knee in the back from goalkeeper.
• Celtic loanee Nadir Ciftci has been criticised for his lack of fitness amid a disappointing start for Polish side Pogon Szczecin. The striker has failed to find the back of the net in any of his first six games, with the club winless over that spell.
• Politics: UK has formerly handed in notice to begin 2 year negotiations to leave the EU. Scotland acting to push for a new independence referendum as Scotland voted to remain in the EU.

Review

(The Rebel Alliance)
Great achievement and done in style.

On one hand the interesting insight from BR in his responses to McCanns agenda ridden questions was great to listen to but the overriding negativity of that wee fud and his his talking down of the Scottish league is incredible, particularly when you realise he is making a living out running it down. Obviously oblivious to the fact he is akin to a turkey voting for Christmas and will soon be out of a job on back of pandering to the sky love in of the EPL.

(Torquemeda of KDS)
For only the third time in our history, and I only have vague memories of the first, 1904-10!

This is a very special time in the unparalleled history of Celtic Football Club. We have won 48 titles cleanly, we have been cheated out of many more, but we have vanquished the dirty, cheating, sectarian monster that corrupted our game for 100 years, and are well on the way to burying its equally vile successor.

Oh what a time to be alive…

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Articles

Hearts 0 – 5 Celtic: Sinclair hat-trick helps clinch title
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/competitions/premiership/hearts-0-5-celtic-sinclair-hat-trick-helps-clinch-title-1-4410006
Celtic's players and fans celebrate at full-time. Picture: SNS
RONNIE ESPLIN
A sensational Scott Sinclair hat-trick helped Celtic secure their sixth successive Premiership title in a commanding 5-0 win over Hearts at Tynecastle.
Keep up to date with all our sport news on The Scotsman’s Sport page on Facebook

Celtic's Scott Sinclair wheels away after scoring the second goal. Picture: SNS
The league challenge started in Gorgie last August as Brendan Rodgers kicked off with a 2-1 win courtesy of a late debut goal by Sinclair after he had come off the bench.
Star strikers Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths were out injured for the return to Edinburgh but the former Manchester City and Aston Villa forward rendered their absence irrelevant with two well-taken goals in three first-half minutes.
Midfielder Stuart Armstrong added a third with a drive and Patrick Roberts scored a wonderful fourth before Sinclair notched his third from the spot with seven minutes remaining.
It was a championship wrapped up in style for the Hoops, who are unbeaten in 30 league games since the start of the season, winning 28 and drawing two, and the club remain on course for a domestic treble.
Hearts had started the game encouragingly enough but could not recover from Sinclair’s double-whammy and they remain two points behind fourth-placed St Johnstone.
For a fixture which is rarely short of incident and talking points, the first one of the afternoon was the absence of Dembele and Griffiths from the Hoops ranks with respective hamstring and back problems.
Both, however, had missed the 4-0 home win over the Jambos at the end of January.
Winger Roberts replaced Dembele as the main striker while Hearts also showed one change with midfielder Perry Kitchen taking over from Arnaud Djoum.
Celtic midfielder Callum McGregor was offside when he converted a Sinclair pass in the first minute of a typically frantic first half.
Hearts striker Esmael Goncalves drew a fine save from former Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon in the 10th minute with a powerful drive from the edge of the box, before thwarting the same player minutes later after he had been set up by Jamie Walker.
The visitors raced up the other end and McGregor tamely side-footed a pinpoint Sinclair cross past the post from eight yards.
Hearts looked the more likely to draw first blood and Gordon had to punch clear a Krystian Nowak header from Walker’s corner but a moment of magic in the 24th minute turned the game in Celtic’s favour.
A classic one-two between Sinclair and Roberts inside the box ended with the former driving high past helpless Jambos goalkeeper Jack Hamilton.
Three minutes later Sinclair was released through the middle by Roberts and he raced clear to knock the ball past Hamilton for his fifth goal against Hearts this season and his 20th in total in all competitions.
There seemed little belief among those in maroon, summed up early in the second half when striker Bjorn Johnsen blasted a shot high over the bar when he had options.
Moments later, at the other end, winger James Forrest’s shot was deflected in by Hearts defender Tasos Avlonitis but the offside flag was up.
However, there was no mistaking the validity of Armstrong’s goal in the 55th minute as the in-form midfielder, who made his Scotland debut against Slovenia last Sunday, drove in from the edge of the box after taking a Kieran Tierney pass.
The 1,476 Celtic fans behind the goal stepped their celebrations up further when Roberts curled in number four with his left foot from just inside the box after being slipped in by McGregor.
As some of the home fans in the crowd of 16,539 began to drift away, the champions kept pressing for number five.
And when Nowak was adjudged by referee Kevin Clancy to have tripped Sinclair inside the box, the Hoops attacker got up and slammed the penalty high past Hamilton to complete a memorable afternoon for him and the rampant visitors.

BBC

By Clive Lindsay

BBC Sport

4 hours ago From the section Football

Celtic's Scott Sinclair celebrates
Scott Sinclair has scored six goals in three games against Hearts

Celtic clinched a sixth consecutive Scottish title with a flourish as three-goal Scott Sinclair again proved to be a thorn in the flesh of Hearts.

Brendan Rodgers' side survived early pressure to sweep to victory and secure the earliest title success, with eight games to spare, in a 38-game campaign.

Two deadly finishes from Sinclair – he has scored six in three outings against Hearts – edged Celtic ahead.

Stuart Armstrong and Patrick Roberts matched them before a Sinclair penalty.

The final whistle signalled a party in the Edinburgh sunshine as Celtic celebrated their 48th Scottish title – their 12th this century and first with Rodgers as manager.

And the records keep tumbling for Celtic, who remain unbeaten in 37 domestic games this season, eclipsing a 100-year-old club record.

A fitting way to win title – Rodgers
Celtic's title triumph by numbers
Rodgers' revolution drives Celtic on
How does Celtic's title win compare to other record-breaking runs?

Sinclair inspires Celtic symmetry
Celtic share Scottish title joy with fans

Winning the title in Edinburgh was an act of perfect symmetry for Rodgers' side.

The Northern Irishman's first domestic game in charge of Celtic was at Tynecastle and the packed stands were playing host to the 300th league meeting between the sides – and the 150th to be hosted by Hearts.

On that day back on 7 August, a late goal from Sinclair was needed to subdue hosts who were looking to overtake Aberdeen as Celtic's main title challengers after finishing third in their first season back in the top flight.

A Sinclair double also helped secure a 4-0 win over Hearts in Glasgow in January on a day when he deputised up front due to the absence of first-choice strikers Moussa Dembele and deputy Leigh Griffiths.

That day, the 28-year-old's goals came after he was switched to a more natural wide role, with Roberts in the centre, and that's the way they started at Tynecastle this time out as Rodgers was again denied his two top marksmen through injury.

Lesson learned, one-time Manchester City winger Sinclair combined superbly with fellow Englishman Roberts, himself on loan from the Etihad Stadium, twice within three first-half minutes to virtually end Hearts' challenge.
Cathro can't reverse Hearts' slide
Hearts a work in progress – Cathro

Aberdeen's 7-0 thrashing of Dundee on Friday had ensured that Celtic would require another three points to secure the title.

However, there were few signs that Hearts had the form to make them wait any longer.

Celtic had arrived at Tynecastle unbeaten in their last 10 visits since their last defeat by Hearts – 2-0 at Tynecastle in October 2011 – with the Edinburgh side only avoiding defeat once during that spell.

Since Ian Cathro had taken over as head coach from MK Dons-bound Robbie Neilson, they had slipped from second to fifth and had won only once in their last seven outings.

Yet they had lost only two of their last 14 Premiership home games and they came out full of determination to deny Celtic a title party in their own back yard.

Cathro looked to have won the early tactical battle, with his high-pressing game knocking the visitors out their stride and Isma Goncalves twice testing goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who then saved at point-blank range from Jamie Walker.
Magic from Sinclair and Roberts
Celtic's Patrick Roberts celebrates
Patrick Roberts set up two goals and scored one for Celtic

It had looked ominous for Hearts when Sinclair played in Callum McGregor to find the net after only two minutes.

The linesman's flag allowed the home side to breathe again and they were soon giving as good as they got in a fast and furious start that raged from end to end.

McGregor somehow side-footed wide from only six yards and we began to question Rodgers' decision to switch to an unusual formation with three at the back.

However, Sinclair played a clever one-two with Roberts on the edge of the penalty box before thumping high past goalkeeper Jack Hamilton to give Celtic a 24th-minute lead.

It was soon two as Roberts threaded the ball behind the Hearts defence for Sinclair to score again.

Hearts' defensive frailties had come home to roost and Armstrong's 20-yard drive after the break and Roberts' deft chip from the edge of the penalty area ensured the title was on its way back to Glasgow.

Sinclair completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after being pulled down by Krystian Nowak.

What now for Celtic? With the League Cup already won, a Scottish Cup semi-final awaits as they seek a domestic treble and the prospect of ending the domestic season unbeaten – a feat no Scottish champions have achieved since the late 19th century.
BBC
Celtic have won a sixth consecutive Scottish Premiership title with eight games to spare after thrashing Hearts 5-0 at Tynecastle on Sunday.

Brendan Rodgers' side needed three points against fifth-placed Hearts to be confirmed as champions after Aberdeen hammered Dundee on Friday.

And they did so with a hat-trick from Scott Sinclair and goals from Stuart Armstrong and Patrick Roberts.

Unbeaten Celtic have dropped just four points so far during their campaign.

"My job when I came in was to win it in the best way we possibly could," said Rodgers.

"We have had many outstanding performances, but we have only just begun because there's still an awful lot of development in this team. That's the real exciting part."

How Celtic's title-clinching win at Tynecastle unfolded
Match report: Hearts 0-5 Celtic
Celtic's title triumph by numbers
How does Celtic's title win compare with other record-breaking runs?
What's left to play for this season?

Celtic are still on course to win the domestic treble, having beaten Aberdeen in November to win the League Cup, while they face rivals Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-finals later this month.

The last time the club won all three major Scottish domestic trophies in one season was 2000-01 and the feat has only been achieved once since – when Rangers claimed a treble in 2002-03.

"The run we're on is incredible," said Rodgers in an interview with Football Focus prior to Sunday's title-clinching victory.

"In terms of the treble, we never really mention it. Obviously the supporters can dream, which is great, but we have to just think about performing and playing well."

Celtic could also became the first team to go a full 38-game Scottish Premiership campaign unbeaten.

The last time a Scottish side went a full season unbeaten was Rangers in 1898-99, while Celtic did the same the year before – but the season only lasted 18 games.

Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.
Rodgers wants to 'give more years' to Celtic
Early wobbles but a path to Europe

Former Liverpool boss Rodgers was appointed in May 2016 to replace Ronny Deila, who quit at the end of last season after two mixed years in charge.

Deila led Celtic to back-to-back titles but failed to deliver success in Europe, losing to Maribor and Malmo in the last round of Champions League qualifying and also finishing last in their Europa League group in 2015-16.

Rodgers' first major task was to qualify for the Champions League group stages, only for Celtic to suffer arguably the worst defeat in their history against Gibraltarian part-time side Lincoln Red Imps in the second qualifying round first leg.

After winning the second leg to progress, they needed a stoppage-time penalty from Moussa Dembele to edge past Kazakh side Astana in the third qualifying round before hanging on away to Hapoel Beer Sheva of Israel to reach the group stages.

Once there, they suffered their heaviest European defeat in a 7-0 thrashing by Barcelona but recovered to secure two draws against Premier League side Manchester City and a draw at German side Borussia Monchengladbach.

"We need a couple of players in order to compete at Champions League level – we had some really good performances but there is certain dynamic, power and technique we need," Rodgers told Sky Sports after Sunday's title win.

Star signings and squad improvement

A summer clearout led to forwards Carlton Cole, Anthony Stokes, Colin Kazim-Richards and Stefan Scepovic all departing Celtic Park.

Yet the club were not left short of attacking talent after the signings of Dembele from Fulham and Scott Sinclair from Aston Villa.

Dembele, 20, has scored 32 goals this season and is now one of Europe's most sought-after talents, while 28-year-old winger Sinclair has struck 21 times in all competitions.

Rodgers has also improved the fortunes of players he inherited, most notably 25-year-old central midfielder Stuart Armstrong, who has impressed since becoming a regular starter after October, making his Scotland debut in March.

Read more: Tom English on the Rodgers effect at Celtic
'Rodgers has worked wonders' – pundits on Celtic's season

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton: "People can knock the Scottish league as much as they like, but at the start of the season, Rangers thought they could push Celtic.

"Brendan has done nothing wrong – unbeaten in the league, relative success in Europe given that the last manager was really poor and they had no right to get in the Champions League. I didn't think they'd get in the Europa League.

"He has worked wonders this season and should get credit for that.

"The pressure for Rodgers was going to come in the early part of the season, because the Celtic fans expected this season and expectation was high.

"He's totally transformed the playing personnel, made good signings and the team is a million times better."

Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner: "Celtic will buy one or two more players and they can attract quality since they are in the Champions League.

"They did it in style. Their finishing was magnificent against Hearts – once they settled into this game, there was no chance of Hearts winning it.

"The way Celtic have gone about their business from day one has been exceptional. It's been a joy to watch them this season."

Will Rodgers move on?

Rodgers has been suggested as a possible replacement for Arsene Wenger should the Arsenal boss decide to leave at the end of the season.

The Northern Irishman himself has said he wants to "give more years" to Celtic and is a supporter of what he calls "one of the most iconic clubs in the world".

But could Rodgers make a return to the Premier League?

Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann: "Brendan Rodgers has got more chance and justification to get a big job now then he did at the time when he went to Liverpool.

"To go a whole season unbeaten, which they can still do, to get in the Champions League against all the odds and give Manchester City a game – of course they had a heavy defeat to Barcelona but it's happened to others.

"If you look at that Arsenal job, Rodgers could be one of the first names on the list."

Sunday Times football correspondent Jonathan Northcroft: "Rodgers is still in the rebuilding phase of his career.

"I'm a fan of his in general, but this will be his first league title and he only just won his first trophy in November, so he's quite a long way away from being the man to succeed Arsene Wenger.

"He got quite sensitive towards the end of his time with Liverpool, towards how things were covered – he was banning the press.

"If he wants another big job, he's going to have to handle that properly."

BBC

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers praises manner of side's title win

3 hours ago From the section Football

Celtic share Scottish title joy with fans

Brendan Rodgers says his Celtic side's 5-0 hammering of Hearts was a fitting way to clinch the Premiership title.

Celtic remain unbeaten in domestic competition this season and confirmed their sixth successive title on Sunday.

Scott Sinclair scored a hat-trick at Tynecastle, with Stuart Armstrong and Patrick Roberts also on target.

"It typifies how they've been for the majority of the season – their attitude, determination, style and intensity," Rodgers told BBC Scotland.

"We knew it would be a tough game and to win a pressure game like that is a remarkable achievement from the players.

Celtic trounce Hearts to win title
Rodgers' revolution drives Celtic on
How does Celtic's title win compare to other record-breaking runs?

"We take the energy and hunger from training into games and, from a coaching perspective, that's great to see.

"The fans have been behind the team from day one. Everyone deserves a huge amount of credit – the players, staff and supporters."
'Honoured' Rodgers reflects on title win

Rodgers took charge of Celtic last summer following the departure of Ronny Deila.

And club captain Scott Brown is in no doubt that the Northern Irishman's appointment set Celtic on the road to a reaching a new level.

"Football-wise, it's been top notch," he said. "The manager has recruited great players and brought belief to everyone. We have really pushed on this season."

Having already won the League Cup, and with a Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers coming up this month, the question now is whether Celtic will remain unbeaten this season and whether they will secure the treble.
Scott Brown and Scott Sinclair (left and second from left) will not look too far ahead
Scott Brown and Scott Sinclair (left and second from left) will not look too far ahead

Brown, however, refuses to look beyond their next match at home to Partick Thistle in the league.

"The target remains one game at a time," he added. "We've got a big game on Wednesday, so we'll go back to working hard in training."

Hat-trick hero Sinclair, who took his tally for the season to 21 goals in all competitions on Sunday, also exemplified the relentless drive that seems to underpin the attitude instilled by Rodgers.

"It was a performance that was unbelievable from the whole team," Sinclair said. "We've still got work to do and the season is not over yet.

"We keep winning and that's the mentality here – to keep going.

"We take one game at a time. We've done so well, so we just have to keep going."7

Brendan Rodgers: How Celtic manager drives champions to relentless levels

By Tom English

BBC Scotland

4 hours ago From the section Football 47

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers is now unbeaten in 37 domestic games in his debut season

In the beginning, people laughed, people mocked, people went on television and radio and on social media and had a hoot at Brendan Rodgers' expense.

Back in July, not that anybody is in any danger of forgetting, Celtic lost the first leg of a Champions League qualifier to Lincoln Red Imps, a team from Gibraltar that had in their ranks a labourer, a shipping agent, a customs officer, a civil servant, two policemen and just five professional footballers.

Everybody went barmy. The defeat was deemed the worst in Celtic's history.

Report: Celtic beat Hearts 5-0 to win Premiership
A fitting way to win title, says Rodgers
Celtic's title triumph by numbers

There were calls, by Celtic's own supporters, for much of the team to be binned. Joey Barton – then at Rangers – went on Twitter and posted emojis of faces crying tears of laughter and tears of sadness.

There were GIFs of a slapstick Efe Ambrose, there was thunder and lightning about the ineffectiveness of Scott Brown, who was deemed, by Celtic people, "an embarrassment to the club" and "our worst captain ever".

This was not how Rodgers imagined life to be in a job he described as a dream come true.
Five key Celtic moments this season as they close in on the Premiership title

In the chronicling of Celtic's sixth successive title win there are many landmarks and even though that Red Imps game was in a different competition in a different country, it has its place in the story.

It showed Rodgers how desperately lax Celtic could become, how a lack of professional pride could dog them in the most extraordinary and humiliating of ways.

He kept a calm demeanour but that loss was an affront to the values he holds dear – hard work, honesty, bravery.
Rapid conversion

Rodgers tells a story about Dedryck Boyata that cuts to the heart of what he looks for in a player. Boyata was out of the Celtic team and almost a forgotten man. Rodgers had given him things to work on to improve his performance but the centre-half was still nowhere the first team.

One evening Rodgers had to run a late-night errand to Lennoxtown. It was around midnight when he left. He heard some noise coming from the gym and poked his head around the door. In there on his own, working away, was Boyata. Rodgers knew in that moment that the Belgian was not finished at Celtic. A player with that kind of desire is exactly what the Northern Irishman wants at his club.

Everything changed under Rodgers – and quickly.

When Celtic needed a player to step up and convert a penalty in the last minute of a game against Astana that would put them into the final round of Champions League qualification, one of Rodgers' new signings did the job. On his 20th birthday, Moussa Dembele gave the first small sign of what a sensational signing he was going to become, what a coup Rodgers had pulled off in getting him for the trifling sum of £500,000.
Moussa Dembele
Dembele was signed from Fulham for a modest development fee

Dembele is on 32 goals for the season and is one of the most talked-about young players in Europe. He is just one feelgood story among several.

Four days later, on the opening weekend of the league season, Celtic were level at 1-1 after an hour. Rodgers turned to his bench and brought in another of his recruits, Scott Sinclair. With nine minutes left, Sinclair got the winner, an early illustration of what he was going to bring to the table in the months ahead.

The 28-year-old former Chelsea and Manchester City forward was a busted flush until Rodgers renewed their relationship that had blossomed so well at Swansea. He has got 21 goals.
Familiar faces flourish

Even at that early stage of the campaign, Celtic fans were noticing a difference in their team. Brown was slowly getting back to his combative best, James Forrest was more of a consistent performer than before, Dembele and Sinclair were scoring goals and creating goals, and in late October a new and improved Stuart Armstrong emerged.

Armstrong had been shunted out on the left side of midfield under Ronny Deila despite everybody telling the manager he needed to play in a central role. His confidence had become shot, his role in the team peripheral.

Rodgers had not started Armstrong in some key games early in the season – both legs of the Hapoel Beer Sheva tie, the thumping victory over Rangers at Celtic Park, the ill-fated trip to Barcelona, the huge occasion that was the home game with Manchester City, the home game with Borussia Monchengladbach, the League Cup semi-final against Rangers.
Stuart Armstrong
Armstrong was one of six Celtic players in the Scotland line up for this month's win over Slovenia

It was only when Armstrong started, and scored, in the league win against Ross County on 26 October that he got a sustained run in the team. And he was different player. Strong, influential, a creative threat, a leader, a goal-scorer.

He has 13 goals this season and is now a Scotland international.

In helping his club, Rodgers is also helping his adopted country, not just in the fantastic renaissance of Armstrong, but in the reinvigoration of Brown and the continuing development of Kieran Tierney, a young player whose future gets brighter by the month.
Yawning gap

Celtic have all the financial advantages, it's true. They were always going to win the league, that's obvious.

Even those who believe in miracles gave up all hope of a title race as early as late October when Celtic held a nine-point advantage over the field. Nine became 13, then 16, then 19.

This is what they should be doing, of course. But they didn't do it last season. At this point of the season 12 months ago, Celtic held just a four-point advantage over Aberdeen, albeit with a game in hand. It was only in April that they kicked on and stretched clear.

This season, Celtic were out of sight even before the marketing people had a notion of dressing-up Leigh Griffiths as a Christmas elf. They'd disappeared over the horizon by the turn of the year.
Scott Sinclair celebrates a goal against Rangers
Sinclair has had a huge impact in his debut season for the champions

It's understandable to downplay Celtic's domestic dominance, but it's worthwhile exploring it all the same. We think of them rampaging their way to the title, unbeaten and largely unthreatened. We think of the hammerings they've dished out. In league matches they've scored four or more goals against eight out of the 11 teams in the Premiership. They got five against Rangers, St Johnstone and Motherwell. They got six against Kilmarnock.

Easy? Unquestionably. But they've had to graft at times. Before this weekend they'd won 27 league games and 12 of them had been by a goal.
Mentality of relentlessness

This cuts to what some rival managers say about the greatest improvement that Rodgers has introduced – hard work and improved fitness.

They have the talent, but what other managers keep saying is that as much as Dembele and Sinclair and Armstrong and Brown have made them borderline unbeatable domestically, it's their physical and mental robustness that is the key change.

As one Premiership manager said recently, "They're relentless. When they have you on the ropes their hunger to finish you off is greater than it's been for a long time."

That's backed up by their scoring record. In all competitions, Celtic have scored 28 goals after the 80-minute mark in matches this season.
Tom Rogic scored a last-minute winner at Fir Park in early December
Tom Rogic scored a last-minute goal in a dramatic 4-3 win at Fir Park in early December

That playing to the last whistle is down to Rodgers. He's trying to create a culture that's not just going to work domestically but internationally. The chants of 'Here we go, ten in a row' are all very well to him, but what he wants is not just success at home but growth in Europe – the true testing ground.

Winning the title was a formality, but it's how they won it that counts. They've found new players and reawakened others.

It's not just another league title that Celtic fans are celebrating, it's the belief that better days lie ahead for this team on a bigger stage, if only they can keep it together and add to it.

Rodgers is not the type of manager to settle for what he has. A title is always to be cherished, but he'll see it as just another stop on a much longer journey.